I recently purchased a Panasonic Blu-Ray player so I could watch the new TNG discs. It also included an excellent internet streaming capability including direct Netflix access. Having not seen any TOS for over 40 years, I said "Hark!"

Yesterday, I carefully watched Mantrap and Charlie X and came to some interesting conclusions.

1. Shatner isn't as bad as I remembered, at least not in these two eps.

2. The stories themselves do stand up over time.

3. The Spock/Uhura relationship in the 2009 movie is unmistakably foreshadowed in these eps. Uhura's first scene in Mantrap is her attempt to "make conversation" with Spock. Basically, she's hittin' on him. Same story in Charlie X when she sings to him.

I recently purchased a Panasonic Blu-Ray player so I could watch the new TNG discs. It also included an excellent internet streaming capability including direct Netflix access. Having not seen any TOS for over 40 years, I said "Hark!"

Yesterday, I carefully watched Mantrap and Charlie X and came to some interesting conclusions.

1. Shatner isn't as bad as I remembered, at least not in these two eps.

2. The stories themselves do stand up over time.

3. The Spock/Ohura relationship in the 2009 movie is unmistakably foreshadowed in these eps. Ohura's first scene in Mantrap is her attempt to "make conversation" with Spock. Basically, she's hittin' on him. Same story in Charlie X when she sings to him.

I can't help but to wonder if streaming will ultimately wind up being the death of both the DVD disc and BluRay disc technologies. I am uncomfortable with that prospect. I strongly suspect the shift away from disc-based player technology will ultimately not be in the general public's best interest.

My DSL connection here isn't ideal for HD movies; I downloaded an HD movie through iTunes a couple weeks ago, and it took half and hour.

Having said all that, I do occasionally visit StarTrek.com and watch their low-res, pre-remastered eps of TOS. I find that, in most cases, even with the "original" FX, TOS is timeless and shines with brilliance. Having said that, I caught most of the TOS-R epsa few years ago before StarTrek.com took them down, and I feel that, at least half of the time, the remastering provided visible improvements to the visuals. One thing I do not like about TOS-R is the new theme music they shoehorned into the opening titles. It's too jarring.

I recently purchased a Panasonic Blu-Ray player so I could watch the new TNG discs. It also included an excellent internet streaming capability including direct Netflix access. Having not seen any TOS for over 40 years, I said "Hark!"

Yesterday, I carefully watched Mantrap and Charlie X and came to some interesting conclusions.

1. Shatner isn't as bad as I remembered, at least not in these two eps.

2. The stories themselves do stand up over time.

3. The Spock/Uhura relationship in the 2009 movie is unmistakably foreshadowed in these eps. Uhura's first scene in Mantrap is her attempt to "make conversation" with Spock. Basically, she's hittin' on him. Same story in Charlie X when she sings to him.

Also, Netflix must be using the Blu-Ray discs for their source as the planets are brilliantly displayed, not muddled looking as I remember.

This is going to be fun.

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Yeah, the early episodes of TOS are the most interesting in terms of characterization and the evolving concept of what kind of ship Enterprise was as well as what kind of organization it represented. In many ways the attitudes are more recognizably military.

"Charlie X" was based on one of the story premises Roddenberry used as part of his Trek pitch - then titled "The Day Charlie Became God" - and as drafted by Dorothy Fontana is extremely similar to the Twilight Zone version of "It's A Good Life."

You can see that pitch document ("Star Trek Is...") online. Roddenberry earned story credit on "Charlie X" for the following sentence: "The accidental occurrence of infinite power to do all things, in the hands of a very finite man." Fontana wrote the story outline and the teleplay.

You can see that pitch document ("Star Trek Is...") online. Roddenberry earned story credit on "Charlie X" for the following sentence: "The accidental occurrence of infinite power to do all things, in the hands of a very finite man." Fontana wrote the story outline and the teleplay.

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Outstanding. Thank you. This reads like a work of pure genius.

Some of those episode synopses are clearly recognizable. A few, in particular such as The Radiant One and The Infection, might have been developed into incredible episodes, but as far as I can tell weren't adapted—at least not with the same thrust.

Roddenberry earned story credit on "Charlie X" for the following sentence: "The accidental occurrence of infinite power to do all things, in the hands of a very finite man." Fontana wrote the story outline and the teleplay.

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That actually sounds more like "Where No Man Has Gone Before." The "Charlie" in the title hints at "Charlie X" but Gary Mitchell could have easily been Charlie Mitchell early on. Notice the premise says nothing about an adolescent, but "a very finite man." Was Sam Peeples working off a Roddenberry story idea? Did he read Gene's series outline and pick a premise that sounded most interesting? Or was WMNHGB totally original and this really is "Charlie X?"

Roddenberry earned story credit on "Charlie X" for the following sentence: "The accidental occurrence of infinite power to do all things, in the hands of a very finite man." Fontana wrote the story outline and the teleplay.

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That actually sounds more like "Where No Man Has Gone Before." The "Charlie" in the title hints at "Charlie X" but Gary Mitchell could have easily been Charlie Mitchell early on. Notice the premise says nothing about an adolescent, but "a very finite man." Was Sam Peeples working off a Roddenberry story idea? Did he read Gene's series outline and pick a premise that sounded most interesting? Or was WMNHGB totally original and this really is "Charlie X?"

Just putting it out there.

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Plus, the "accidental occurrence" part does seem to fit WNMHGB better since the Thasians deliberately gave Charlie his power to help him survive.

Oh, there's a little difference between the two (Charlie is an adolescent, and an unknown to the crew; Mitchell is an adult, and has an established relationship with the crew, especially Kirk), but they're undeniably similar.